Duchess is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Shire of Cloncurry The Shire of Cloncurry is a Local government in Australia, local government area in North West Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1884. The major town and administrative centre of the ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Duchess had a population of 53 people.

Geography

The town is in the east of the locality. The Cloncurry Duchess Road, which is part of the Cloncurry-Dajarra Road, passes through the locality from south to east, passing through the town. The Great Northern railway passes through the locality from east to north-west, passing through the town which is served by the Duchess railway station (). Duchess is surrounded by a number of pastoral stations including Mayfield station and Stradbroke station. The

Dajarra railway line Dajarra and Selwyn Branch Railways were lines in north-west Queensland, Australia. Along with the Mount Cuthbert and Dobbyn Branch Railways, they were essentially built to tap large deposits of copper discovered in the Cloncurry region. His ...

passes through the locality. Butru is a neighbourhood () within the locality, which developed around the Butru railway station. Juenburra is neighbourhood () within the locality, which developed around the Juenburra railway station. Woobera is a neighbourhood () within the locality, which developed around the Woobera railway station. In the north of the locality, there is a

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

separating into three

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

s. The

Leichhardt River The Leichhardt River is a river in north-west Queensland, Australia. Course The source of the river is in the Selwyn Range under Rifle Creek Hill and fed by Rifle Creek approximately south of the mining town Mount Isa. It runs in a generally n ...

and its east branch rise in the north of the locality and flows north into the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

. The

Malbon River Malbon is a surname of the descendants of William Malbank, First Baron of Nantwich. People * Anthony Malbon (born 1991), English footballer * Fabian Malbon (born 1946), Vice Admiral and Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey * John Malbon Thompson ...

rises in the north-east of the locality and flows north-east into the

Cloncurry River The Cloncurry River is situated in the Gulf Country of north west Queensland, Australia. Geography The headwaters of the river rise west of Mount Boorama near Mount Tracey in the Selwyn Range (Australia), Selwyn Range and initially flows nort ...

and ultimately into the

Flinders River The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes o ...

and into the Gulf of Carpentaria. While the Wills Creek, Green Creek and Pilgrim Creek which rise in the south of the locality flow south and into the Bourke River and ultimately into the

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georg ...

which theoretically flows into

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in the east-central part of the Far North (South Australia), Far North region of South Australia, some 700 km (435 mi) north of Adelaide. It is the larg ...

, but only rarely is there sufficient water for this occur.

History

Kalkatunga (also known as Kalkadoon, Kalkadunga, Kalkatungu) is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

. The Kalkatunga language region is North-West Queensland including the local government areas of the

City of Mount Isa The City of Mount Isa is a local government area in north west Queensland. The City covers the urban locality of Mount Isa, the administrative centre, and surrounding area, sharing a boundary with the Northern Territory to the west. Mount Isa ...

. The town's name was derived from the name of the mine, which was named by pastoralist Alexander Kennedy when his son John Peter Kennedy discovered a deposit of copper there in 1897 and led to the founding of the town. (Alexander Kennedy would later be the first passenger on a

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

plane from

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known as the ''Friendl ...

.) Duchess was the name or nickname of the Aboriginal consort of pastoralist St John de Satge who was nicknamed "The Duke", who had run away and sought refuge at Kennedy's Calton Downs station. A 1987 map indicates that Duchess was previously named Mairindi. Mining in the area lead to negotiations with the government in 1906 about building accessible railway stations. Duchess railway station opened on 21 October 1912 when the Great Northern railway line reached Duchess from Malbon. In the 1911 census, the town had a population of 397. By 1915 the population boomed to over 1000. By the 1920s, the town's population dropped. At its peak and for a while afterwards, Duchess was home to four pubs, a school, a post office, a train station, and four automobile garages. The Butru railway station was named by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...

on 26 July 1915; it is an Aboriginal word referring to the waterhole where the railway line crosses the Wills River. The Dajarra railway line from the town of Duchess reached Butru on 18 December 1915. The Woobera railway station was named by the Queensland Railways Department on 19 October 1917; it is an Aboriginal word meaning ''shelter for sleeping''. The Juenburra railway station was named by the Queensland Railways Department on 17 October 1918; it is an Aboriginal word meaning ''bush fly''. Duchess Provisional School opened on 17 July 1911 and closed on 10-June-83. It became Duchess State School on 1 March 1915. It closed in 1983. Trekelano State School opened on 9 October 1918. It closed in 1926. It re-opened on 19 July 1936 but closed in 1941.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Duchess had a population of 23 people. In the , the locality of Duchess had a population of 53 people.

Education

There are no schools in Duchess. The nearest government primary schools are Happy Valley State School in Happy Valley,

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...

, to the north and Dajarra State School in neighbouring

Dajarra Dajarra is a rural town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Dajarra had a population of 186 people. Geography Dajarra is in North West Queensland near th ...

to the south. The nearest government secondary school is

Spinifex State College Spinifex State College is a public, co-educational, day and boarding school located in Mount Isa, Queensland. It first opened in 2003. History Prior to 2003 Mount Isa was serviced by two state secondary schools. Mount Isa State High School and ...

in Mount Isa, which has its junior campus in Parkside and its senior campus in

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

. However, not all parts of Duchess are within range of these schools for a daily commute, so other options are

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

and boarding schools. Spinifex State College has boarding facilities in Healy, Mount Isa.

Amenities

* Duchess Pub

Transport

References

External links

Town map of Duchess, 1970
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Shire of Cloncurry Localities in Queensland